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ADDEESS FKOM THE PEOPLE OE IRELAND 

TO THEIE COUNTRYMEN AND COUNTRYWOMEN 
IN AMERICA. 

Dear Friends : You are at a great distance from your native 
land ! A wide expanse of water separates you from the beloved 
country of your birth — from us and from the kindred whom 
you love, and who love you, and pray for your happiness and 
prosperity in the land of your adoption. 

We regard America with feelings of admiration: we do not 
look upon her as a strange land, nor upon her people as aliens 
from our affections. The power of steam has brought us nearer 
together ; it will increase the intercourse between us, so that 
the character of the Irish people and of the American people 
must in future be acted upon by the feelings and dispositions 
of each. 

The object of this address is to call your attention to the 
subject of slavery in America — that foul blot upon the noble 
institution and the fair fame of your adopted country. But 
for this one stain, America would indeed be a land worthy your 
adoption ; but she wnll never be the glorious country that her 
free Constitution designed her to be, so long as her soil is pol- 
luted by the foot-prints of a single slave. 

Slavery is the most tremendous invasion of the natural, 
inalienable rights of man, and of some of the noblest gifts of 
God, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What a 
spectacle does America present to the people of the earth ! A 
land of professing Christian repul)licans, uniting their energies 
for the oppression and degradation of three millions of inno- 
cent human beings, the children of one common Father, who 
suffer the most grievous wrongs and the utmost degradation, 
for no crime of their ancestors or their own ! Slavery is a sin 
against God and man. All who are not for it must be against 
it. None can be neutral. We entreat you to take the part of 
justice, religion, and liberty. 

It is in vain that American citizens attempt to conceal their 
own and their country's degradation under this withering curse. 
America is cursed by slavery! We call upon you to unite 



.WITH THE Abolitionists, and never to cease your efforts until 
perfect liberty be granted to every one of her inhabitants, the 
black man as well as the white man. We are all children of 
the same gracious God ; all equally entitled to life, liberty, and 
■ the pursuit of happiness. 

We are told that you possess great power, both moral and 
political, in America. We entreat you to exercise that power 
and that influence for the sake of humanity. 

You will not witness the horrors of slavery in all the States 
of America. Thirteen of them are free, and thirteen are slave 
States. But in all, the pro-slavery feeling, though rapidly 
decreasing, is still strong. Do not unite with it: on the con- 
trary, oppose it by all the peaceful means in your power. Join 
WITII THE ABOLITIONISTS EVERY WHERE. They are the only 
consistent advocates of liberty. Tell every man that you do 
not understand liberty for the white man, and slavery for the 
black man; that you are for liberty for all, of every color, 
creed, and country. 

The xVmerican citizen proudly points to the National Decla- 
ration of Independence, which declares that all mankind are 
born free and equal, and are alike entitled to life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness. - Aid him to carry out this noble 
declaration, by obtaining freedom for the slave. 

Irishmen and Irishwomen ! treat the colored people as your 
equals, as brethren. By all your memories of Ireland, con- 
tinue to love liberty — hate slavery — cling by the aboltion- 
ISTS — and in America you Avill do honor to the name of Ireland. 
[Signed by] Daniel O'Connell, 

Theobald Mathew. 

And sixty tliousand other inhabitants of Ireland. 



LETTER FPvOM JAMES HAUGHTON, ESQ. 

To Irishmen in America : 

Countrymen : — My heart often prompts me to address you 
in a few words of kindly remonstrance. I wish you so to con- 
duct yourselves in the distant hind you have made your home, 
as that your conduct may reflect honor on the loved country 
you have left behind you, and cause you to be really respected 
by the people among whom you now dwell. These advantao-es 
can be secured only by a steady adherence, on your part, to 

'6S 



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3, 



the principles of truth and honor, which you shouhl make the 
guiding star of your life. 

You love liberty for yourselves. Be consistent m your ad- 
vocacy of this universal right of the hunlan race ; and claim it 
as the inalienable privilege of all men,— of the colored man, as 
-well as the white man. 

I fear too many of you have forgotten your duty, in this re- 
spect, and that thus the fame of Ireland — which we should 
shield from the breath of dishonor— is sullied in the eyes of 
those who should only see reflected in your conduct, evidence 
of the firm determination of your countrymen to stand fast by 
the noble principles of Christian rectitude. 

In the twelfth century, the synod of Armagh proclaimed 
liberty to every captive in Ireland, and since then, a slave has 
never polluted our green isle. 

Remember the faithfulness of O'Connell. Let his memory, 
which is embalmed in many of our hearts, and his whole life, 
which was a consistent course in favor of civil and religious 
liberty, be a beacon-light guiding you in y«ur career. Demand, 
as he did, that freedom for all which you claim as your, own 
birthright. 

Thus, and thus alone, can you secure true respect for your- 
selves, and cause the stranger to say of your country, " If I 
were not an American, I should be proud to be an Irishman." 
By all your pleasant memories of Ireland; by her glorious- 
mountains and her beautiful valleys ; by her verdant plains, 
which are watered by the streams in which you loved to dis- 
port yourselves in childhood ; by your love of these things ; 
by your affection for your kindred and friends, and by your 
reverence for almighty God,— I appeal to you, and I ask you 
to love your fellow-men of all complexions and of all creeds, 
and to demand for them all, the exact measure of justice you 
claim for yourselves. 

The sad moan of four millions of slaves comes across the 
broad ocean, and it sounds painfiilly in our ears. _ I ask you 
to aid in turning their sorrow into joy— to aid in enabling 
the fathers and jnothers of the colored race in America to clasp 
their little ones, and feel all the happiness and all the respon- 
sibility of being their guardians and their guides, from infancy 
up to manhood. Turn not a deaf ear to the cry of the slave, 
but let him feel, in future and for evermore, that in every Irish- 
man he has a friend. 

Whatever may be your rank or condition in the land of your 
adoption, believe me, countrymen, you can only acqmre and 
maintain an honorable reputation there, by such a course of 



conduct as I recommend ; and "whatever may be your practice, 
"whether in consonance "with, or in opposition to these sentiments, 
I feel assured that you "svill say in your hearts, " He is right." 
I entreat you to act manfully in accordance "with your convic- 
tions, and 1 beg to subscribe myself, 

Faithfully yours, 

James Haughton. 
Dublin, 35 Eccles Street. 



SLAYEM NOT A DEBATABLE UUESTION. 

An American gentleman "waited upon me this morning, and 
I asked him, "s\'ith some anxiety, " "What part of America do 
you come from?" "I came from Boston." "Do me the 
honor to shake hands. You came from a State that has never' 
been tarnished vritli slavery — a State to which our ancestors 
fled from the tyran-ny of England, and the Avorst of all tyran- 
nies, the odious attempt to interfere between a man and his 
God ; a tyranny that I have in principle helped to put down 
in this country, and "wish to put down in every country upon 
the face of the globe. (Cheers.) It is odious and insolent to 
interfere between a man and his God ; to fetter "with law the 
choice which' the conscience makes of its mode of adoring the 
eternal and adorable God. I cannot talk of toleration, be- 
cause it supposes that a boon has been given to a human 
being, in allowing him to have his conscience free. (Cheers.) 
It "was in that struggle," I said, "that your fathers left Eng- 
land, and I rejoice to see an American from Boston ; but I 
should be sorry to be contaminated by the touch of a man 
from those States "svhere slavery is continued." (Cheers.) 
"Oh," said he, "you are alluding to slavery : though I am no 
advocate for it, yet if you will allow me, I will discuss that 
question with you." I replied, that if a man should propose 
to me a discussion on the propriety of picking pockets, I 
would turn him out of my study, for fear he should carry his 
theory into practice. (Laughter and cheers.) " And, mean- 
ing you no sort of offence," I added, " which I cannot mean to 
a gentleman who does me the honor to pay me a civil visit, I 
would as soon discuss the one question with you as the other." 
The one is a paltry theft : 

"AVho steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands" — 



but he who thinks he can vindicate the possession of one hu- 
man being by another — the sale of soul and body — the sep- 
aration of father and mother — the taking of the mother from 
the infant at her breast, and selling the one to one master and 
the other to another — is a man •\vhom I will not answer with 
words — nor yet with blows, for the time for the latter has not 
yet come. (Cheers.) — Daniel O'Connell. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECHES OF O'COMELL. 

I now come to America, the boasted land of freedom ; and 
here I find slavery, which they not only tolerate but extend, 
justified and defended as a legacy left them by us. It is but 
too true. But I would say unto them, you threw ofi" the alle- 
giance you owed us, because you thought we were oppressing 
you with the Stamp Act. You boasted of your deliverance 
from slavery. On what principle, then, do you now continue 
your fellow-men in bondage, and render that bondage even 
more galling by ringing in the ears of the sufierers from your 
tyranny, what 3"ou have done, what you have suffered, for free- 
dom ? They may retaliate upon us. They may reply by allu- 
sions to the slaveries we have established or encouraged. But 
what would be thought of that man who should attempt to 
justify the crime of sheep-stealing, by alleging that another 
stole sheep too ? Would such a defence be listened to ? Oh, 
no ; and I will say unto you, freemen of America, and the press 
will convey it to you almost as swift as the wind, that God un- 
derstands you ; that you are hypocrites, tyrants, and unjust 
men ; that you are degraded and dishonored ; and I say unto 
you, dare not to stand up boasting of your freedom or your 
privileges, while you continue to treat men, redeemed by the 
same blood, as the mere creatures of your will ; for while you 
do so, there is a blot on your escutcheon which all the waters 

of the Atlantic cannot wash out. 

* * # *•* * * 

Of all men living, an American citizen, who is the owner of 
slaves, is the most despicable ; he is a political hypocrite of the 
very worst description. The friends of humanity and liberty, 
in Europe, should join in one universal cry of shame on the 
American slaveholders? '"Base wretches," should we shout 
in chorus — " base wretches, how dare you profane the temple 
of national freedom, the sacred fane of republican rites, with 



the presence and the suffering? of human beings in chains and 
slavery?" — Speech delivered at an Anti-Slavery Meeting in 
1829. 

I speak of liberty in commendation. Patriotism is a virtue, 
but it can be selfish. Give me the great and immortal Bolivar, 
the saviour and regenerator of his country. He found her a 
province, and he has made her a nation. His first act Was to 
give freedom to the slaves upon his own estate. (Hear, hear.) 
In Colombia, all castes and all colors are free and unshackled. 
But how I like to contrast him with the far-famed northern 
heroes ! George "Washington ! that great and enliglitened 
character, — the soldier and the statesman, — had but one blot 
upon his character. He had slaves, and he gave them liberty 
when he wanted them no longer. (Loud cheers.) Let America, 
in the fullness of her pride, wave on high her banner of free- 
dom and -its blazing stars. I point to her, and say, There is 
one foul blot upon it ; you have negro slavery. They may com- 
pare their struggles for freedom to Marathon and Leuctra, and 
point to the rifleman with his gun, amidst her woods and forests, 
shouting for liberty and America. In the midst of their 
laughter and their pride, I point them to the negro children 
screaming for the mother from .whose bosom they have been 
torn. America, it is a foul stain upon your character ! (Cheers.) 
This conduct, kept up by men who had themselves to struggle 
for freedom, is doubly unjust. Let them hoist the flag of 
liberty, Avith the whip and rack on one side, and the star of 
freedom upon the other. The Americans are a sensitive, 
people ; in fifty-four years they liave increased their population 
from three millions to twenty millions; they have many glories 
that surround them, but their beams are partly shorn, for they 
have slaves. (Cheers.) Their hearts do not beat so strong 
for liberty as mine. * * * * I -will call for justice, in the name 
of the living God, and I shall find an echo in the breast of 
every human being. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at the An- 
nual Meeting of the Cork Anti- Slavery Society, 1829. 

Ireland and Irishmen should be foremost in seeking to effect 
the emancipation of mijnkind. (Cheers.) ****** The 
Americans alleged that they had not perpetrated the crime, 
but inherited it from England. This, however, fact as it was, 
was still a paltry apology for America, who asserting liberty 
for herself, still used the brand and the lash against others. 
(Hear.) He "taunted America with the continuance of slavery ; 
and the voice with which he there uttered the taunt would be 
wafted on the wings of the press, until it would be heard in the 
remote wilds of America ; it would be wafted over the waters 



/ "^^ 



of the Missouri and those of the Mississippi ; and even the 
slaves upon the .distant banks of the Ohio "would make his words 
resound in the ears of their heartless masters, and tell them to 
their face, that they were the victims of cruelty, injustice, and 
foul oppression. (Cheers.) Bright as was the page of Ameri- 
can history, and brilliant as was the emblazonment of h^r 
deeds, still, negro slavery was a black, a " damning spot" upon 
it. Glorious and splendid as was the star-spangled bonncr of 
republican America, still it was stained with the deep, foul 
blot of human blood. — Speech delivered at a Meeting of the 
Dublin Asnti- Slavery Society, 1830. 

Man cannot have property in man. Slavery is a nuisance, 
to. be put down, not to be compromised with ; and to be assailed 
without cessation and without mercy by every blow that can 
be leveled at the monster. ***** Let general principles 
be asserted. And as it is the cause of religion and liberty, all 
that is wanted is the unwearied repetition of zealous advocacy 
to make it certainly triumphant. Let every man, then, in 
whatever position he may be placed, do his duty in crushing 
that hideous tyranny, which rends the husband from the wife, 
the children from their parents ; which enables one human 
being, at his uncontrolled will, to apply the lash to the back of 
his fellow-man. — Speech delivered at the London Anti- Slavery 
Society, 1830. 

We are responsible for what we do, and also for the influence 
of our example. Think you that the United States of America 
would be able to hold up their heads among the nations, — the 
United States, who shook oiT their allegiance to their sovereign, 
and declared that it was the right of every man to enjoy free- 
dom — of every man, whether black, white, or red ; who made 
this declaration before the God of armies, and then, when they 
had succeeded in their enterprise, forgot their vow, and made 
slaves, and used the lash and the chain, — would they dare to 
take their place among the nations, if it were not that Eng- 
land countenances them in the practice ? — Speech delivered at 
the General Meeting of the British Anti-Slavery Society, 1831. 

My claim to be heard on this occasion is included in one 
sentence — I am an Abolitionist. (Cheering.) I am for speedy, 
immediate abolition. (Renewed cheers.) I care not what 
caste, creed, or color, slavery may assume. Whether it be per- 
sonal or political, mental or corporeal, intellectual or spiritual, 
I am for its total, its instant abolition. (Great applause.) I 
enter into no compromise with slavery. I am for justice, in 
the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living 
God. 



The time has now come, wlien every man who has honest 
feelings should declare himself the advocate of abolition. He 
who consents to tolerate crime is a criminal ; and never will I 
lose the slightest opportunity, whether here or in the legisla- 
ture, or any where else, to raise my voice for liberty, — for the 
extinction of slavery. . (Great applause.) Humanity, justice 
and religion combine to call upon us to abolish this foul blot. 
But it is not England or Britain alone that is stained with this 
crime. The democratic Republic of America shares in the 
guilt. Oh ! the inconsistency of these apostles of liberty talk- 
ing of freedom, while they basely and wickedly continue the 
slavery of their fellow-men, the negroes of Africa ! A repub- 
lican is naturally proud and high-minded, and we may make 
the pride of the North American republicans the very weapon 
by which to break down slavery ; for, if the example of Eng- 
land were gone, they could not, in the face of the world, con- 
tinue the odious and atrocious system one moment longer. 
(Cheers.) Abolish it throughout the British colonies, and 
away it goes in America. (Renewed cheers.) 

Slavery is a crime, a high crime against Heaven, and its an- 
nihilation ought not to be postponed. We have lately heard 
a good deal of the iniquity of the East India Company, getting 
money from the poor, infatuated wretches who throw themselves 
beneath the wheel of Juggernaut's car. This is lamentable 
indeed ; but what care I, whether the instrument of torture 
be a wheel or a lash? (Applause.) I am against Jugger- 
gernaut, both in the East Indies and West Indies, and am 
determined, therefore, not to assist in perpetuating slavery. Is 
it possible, that Avhere humanity, benevolence and religion are 
combined, there can be doubt of success? The priests of 
Juggernaut are respectable persons compared with those who 
oppose such a combination, (applause) ; and I entreat you to 
assist in the great work by becoming its apostles. — Speech de- 
livered before the London Anti-Slavery Society, 1831. 

I will now go to America. I have often longed to go there, 
in reality ; but so long as it is tarnished by slavery, I will never 
pollute my foot by treading on its shores. (Cheers.) In the 
course of my Parliamentary duty, a few days ago, I had to ar- 
raign the conduct of the despot of the North, for his cruelty to 
the men, women and children, of Poland ; and I spoke of him 
with the execration he merits. But, I confess, that although 
I ha'te him with as much hatred as one Christian man can hate 
another human being, viz. : I detest his actions with abhor- 
rence, unutterable and indescribable ; yet there is a climax in 



my hatred. 1 would adopt the language of the poet, but re- 
verse the imagery, and say, 

" In the deepest hell, there is a depth still more profound," 

and that is to be found in the conduct of the American slave- 
owners. (Cheers). They are the basest of the base — the most 
execrable of the execrable. I thank God, that upon the wings • 
of the press, the voice of so humble an individual as myself 
will pass against the western breeze — that it will reach the 
rivers, the lakes, the mountains, and the glens of America — 
and that the friends of liberty there will sympathize with me, 
and rejoice that I here tear down the image of Liberty from 
the recreant hand of America, and condemn her as the vilest 
of hypocrites — the greatest of liars." (Long continued cheers.) 
When this country most unjustly and tyrannically oppressed 
its colonies, and insisted that a Parliament of borough-mongers 
in Westminster should have the power of putting their long 
fingers across the Atlantic into the pockets of the Americans, 
taking out as much as they pleased, and, if they found any- 
thi ng, leaving what residuum they chose — America turned round, 
and appealed to justice, and she was right; appealed to hu- 
manity, and she was right ; appealed to her own brave sword, 
and she was right, and I glory in it. At that awful period, 
when America was exciting all the nations of the world ; when 
she was declaring her independence, and her inhabitants 
pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, and 
invoked the God of charity (whom they foolishly called the 
God of battles, which he is not, any more than he is the God 
of murder) — at that awful period, when they laid the foundation 
of their liberty, they began with these words : " We hold these 
truths to be self-evident ; that all men are created equal ; that 
they ai^ endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable 
rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness," Thus the American has acknowledged what he 
cannot deny, viz., that God the Creator has endowed man with 
those inalienable rights. But it is not the white man, it is not 
the copper-colored man, nor is it the black man alone, who is 
thus endowed ; it is all men who are possessed of these in- 
alienable rights. The man, however, who cannot vote in any 
State assembly without admitting this as the foundation of his 
liberty, has the atrocious injustice, the murderous injustice, to 
trample upon these inalienable rights ; as it were, to attempt 
to rob the Creator of his gifts, and to appropriate to himself 
his brother man, as if he could be his slave. (Cheers.) Shame 



10 

be upon America ! eternal shame be upon her escutcheon ! 
(Loud cheers.) 

Shortly there will not be a slave in the British colonies. 
Five lines in an Act of Parliament, the other night, liberated 
nearly 500,000 slaves in the East Indies, at a single blow. 
The West Indians will be obliged to grant emancipation, in 
spite of the paltry attempts to prevent it ; and we will then 
turn to America, and to every part of Europe, and require 
emancipation. (Cheers.) No! they must not think that they 
can boast of their republican institutions — that they can talk 
of their strength and their glory. Unless they abolish slavery, 
they must write themselves down liars, or 'call a general con- 
vention of the States, and blot out tlie first sentence of their 
Declaration of Independence, and write in its place, "Liberty 
in America means the power to flog slaves, and to work them 
for nothing." (Loud applause.) * * * * 

The voice of Europe will proclaim the slave's deliverance, 
and will say to him, " Shed no blood, but take care that your 
blood be not shed." I tell the American slave-owner, that 
he shall not have silence ; for, humble as I am, and feeble as 
my voice may be, yet deafening the sound of the westerly 
wave, and riding against the blast as thunder goes, it shall 
reach America, telling the black man that the time for his 
emancipation has come, and tlie oppressor that the period of 
his injustice is soon to terminate ! (Clieers.) — Speech de- 
livered at the G-reat Anti- Colonization Meeting in London, 
1833. 

Mr. O'Connell presented himself to the meeting, amid the 
most enthusiastic cheers. After some remarks of a general 
nature, the Hon. and learned gentleman proceeded to speak in 
terms of severe censure of the conduct of the Americans, in 
continuing to keep in bondage the bUick population in many 
of their States. He did not wonder at the death pkgues of 
New Orleans, or the devastation of its people, many of whom 
enjoyed health and vigor at morn, and were lifeless at noon, 
when they had committed or countenanced crimes which could 
only be registered with the annals of Nicholas and the curses 
of Poland. 

The Hon. and learned r.ntleman read several extracts from 
an American slaveholding Act, in which it was enjoined that 
no judge, legislative member, barrister or preacher, should 
speak or write anything against slavery, under the pain of 
being sentenced to not less than three years, and not more 
than twenty-one years' imprisonment, or death, at the discre- 
tion of the court ! ! ! And that no American should teach a 



11 

slave to read or write, under tlio pain of not Icps than three 
months, and not move than twelve months' imprisonment. 
(Hear, hear.) The Hon. and learned gentleman flung this 
black dishonor on the star-spangled banner of America — in 
vain did it wave over every sea, proclaiming the honor of the 
boasted republic of modern times — those who fought under it 
were felons to the human race, (hear, hear,) traitors to liberty, 
to their ow^n honor, and blasphemers of the Almighty. "The 
red arm of God," continued the Hon. and learned gentleman, 
"is bared; and let the enemies of those whom his Son died to 
save, the black man as well as the white man, beware of its 
vengeance ! The lightning careers through the troubled air 
resistless, amidst the howling of the tempest and rolling of the 
thunder. Oh, for one moment of poetic inspiration, that my 
words, with the fire of indignation with which my bosom burns, 
Diay be borne on the western breeze across the wide Atlantic, 
light on their shores, reverberate among their mountains, and 
be wafted down the rivers of America!" — Speech delivered at 
an Anti-Slavery Meeting-in London, 1835. 

He had given the Americans some severe but merited re- 
proofs ; for which they had paid him wages in abuse and scur- 
rility. He was satisfied that they had done so. He was ac- 
customed to receive such wages in return for his labors. He 
had never done good but he was vilified for his pains ; and he 
felt that he could not sleep soundly were such opponents to 
cease abusing him. (Cheers.) He would continue to earn 
such wages. (Cheers.) By the blessing of God, he would yet 
trample on the serpent of slave-owning cupidity, and triumph 
over the hiss of the foul reptile, which marked its agony, and 
excited his contempt. The Americans, in their conduct toward 
their slaves, were traitors to the cause of human liberty, and 
foul detractors of the democratic principle, which he had cher- 
ished throughout his political life, and blasphemers of that 
great and sacred name which they pretended to reverence. In 
reprobation of their disgraceful conduct, his public voice had 
been heard across the wide Atlantic. Like the thunder-storm 
in its strength, it had careered against the breeze, armed with 
the lightning of Christian truth. (Great cheering.) And, let 
them seek to repress it as they may; let them murder and as- 
sassinate in the true spirit of lynch law; the storm would wax 
louder and louder around them, till the claims of justice bey 
came too strong to be withstood, and the black man would 
stand up, too big for his chains. It seemed, indeed — he hoped 
what he was about to say was not profanation — as if the curse 
of the Almighty had already overtaken them. For the first 



12 

time in their political history, disgraceful tumult and anarchy 
had been witnessed in their cities. Blood had been shed with- 
out the sanction of law, and even Sir Robert Peel had been 
enabled — but he was here in danger of becoming political. 
(Cries of No, no — Go on, and cheers.) Well, then, even Sir 
Kobert Peel had been enabled to taunt the Americans with 
gross inconsistency and lawless proceedings. He differed from 
Sir Robert Peel on many points. (Laughter.) Every body 
knew that. (Renewed laughter.) It was no doubt presump- 
tion in him to differ from so great a man, but yet such was the 
fact. (Laughter.) On one point, however, he fully agreed 
with him. Let the proud Americans learn, that all parties in 
this country unite in condemnation of their conduct ; and let 
them algo learn that the worst of all aristocracies is that which 
prevails in America — an aristocracy which had been aptly de- 
nominated that of the human skin. The most ' insvifferable 
pride was that shown by such an aristocracy. And yet he 
must confess that he could not unclerstand snch pride. He 
could understand the pride of noble descent. He could under- 
stand why a man should plume himself on the success of his 
ancestors in plundering the people some centuries ago. He 
could understand the pride arising from immense landed pos- 
sessions. He could even understand the pride of wealth, the 
fruit of honest and careful industry. Yet when he thought of 
the color of the skin making men aristocratic, he felt his as- 
tonishment to vie with his contempt. Many a white skin cov- 
ered a black heart ; yet an aristocrat of the skin was the 
proudest of the proud. Republicans were proverbially proud, 
and therefore he delighted to taunt the Americans with the su- 
perlative meanness, as well as injustice, of their assumed airs 
of superiority over their black fellow-citizens. (Cheers.) He 
would continue to hurl his taunts across the Atlantic. And, 
oh ! — but perhaps it was his pride that dictated the hope — that 
some black 0' Council might rise among his fellow slaves, (tre- 
mendous cheers,) Avho would cry. Agitate, agitate, (renewed 
cheering,) till the two millions and a half of his fellow-suffer- 
ers learned the secret of their strength — learned that they 
were two millions and a half. (Enthusiastic cheers.) If there 
was one thing which more than another could excite his hatred, it 
was the laws which the Americans had framed to prevent the 
instruction of their slaves. To be seen in company with a 
negro who could write, was visited with imprisonment, (shame!) 
and to teach a slave the principles of freedom was punished 
with death. Were these human laws, it might be asked ? Were 
they not laws made by the wolves of the forest? — No — they 



18 

were made by a congregation of two-legged wolves — American 
wolves — monsters in human shape, who boast of their liberty 
and of their humanity, while they carry the hearts of tigers 
within them. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at the Presentation 
of the Emaneipation Society' s Address to 3Ir. O'Connell, 18o.3. 
I hate slavery in all countries— the slavery of the Poles in 
Russia under their miscreant tyrant, and the slavery of the 
unfortunate men of color under their fellow-men, the boasted 
friends of liberty in the United States. Let the slave leap up 
for joy when he hears of the meeting of this day (cheers) ; let 
liim have the prospect of freedom to cheer him in the decline 
of life. (Cheers.) We ought to make our exertions strongly, 
immediately, and unanimously. (Cheers.) Remember what 
is taking place elsewhere. Only cast your eye across the At- 
lantic, and see what is taking place on the American shores. 
(Cheers.) Behold those pretended sons of freedom — those who 
declared that every man was equal in the presence of his God 
^ — that every man had an inalienable right to liberty — behold 
tbem making, in tbe name of honor, their paltry honor, an 
organized resistance in Southern Slave States against the ad- 
vocates of emancipation. Behold them aiding in the robbery 
committed on an independent State. See how they have seized 
upon the territory of Texas, taking it from jMexico, Mexico 
having totally abolished slavery without apprenticeship, (loud 
cbeers,) in order to make it a new market for slavery. (Shame !) 
Remember how they have stolen, cheated, swindled, robbed 
that country, for the audacious and horrible purpose of perpet- 
uating negro slavery. (Cries of " Shame !") Remember that 
there is now a treaty on foot, in contemplation at least, be- 
tween the Texans and the President of the United States, and 
that it is only postponed till this robbery of Texas from Mexico 
can be completed. Oh ! raise the voice of humanity against 
these horrible crimes ! (Cheers.) There is about republicans 
a sentiment of pride — a feeling of self-exaltation. Let us tell 
these republicans, that instead of their being the highest in the 
scale of humanity, they are the basest of the base, the vilest 
of the vile. (Tremendous cheers.) My friends, there is a 
community of sentiment all over the world, borne on the wings 
of the press ; and what the humble individual who is now ad- 
dressing you may state, will be carried across the waves of the 
Atlantic ; it will go up the Missouri — it will be wafted along 
the banks of the Mississippi — it will roach infernal Texas itself. 
(Immense cheering.) And though that pandemonium may 
scream at the sound, they shall suifer from the lash of human 
indignation applied to their horrible crime. (Cheers.) If they 



14 

are not arrested in their career of guilt, four new States in 
America will be filled with slaves. Oh, hideous breeders of 
human beings for slavery ! Such are the horrors of that sys- 
tem in the American States, that it is impossible, in this 
presence, to describe them ; the mind is almost polluted by 
thinking of them. Should the measures now contemplated by 
the Americans be accomplished, these horrors will be increased 
fourfold ; and men, with the human soul degraded, will be in a 
worse state even than the physical degradation of human bodies. 
(Cheers.) What have we to look to ? Their honor — their 
generosity! We must expect nothing from their generosity. 
(Cheers.) ' Sir, I cannot restrain myself. It was only tire other 
day, I read a letter in The 3Iorning Chronicle, from their 
Philadelphia correepondent. A j)erson, whose Indian name I 
forget, (a voice, " Osceola,") but who was called Powell, had 
carried on a war at the head of the Seminoles, and other 
Florida tribes, against the people of Florida. He behaved 
nobly, and bravely fought for his country; and he would have • 
been deified as a hero had he fought in a civilized nation, and 
testimonials would bave been reared to commemorate his deeds, 
as great and numerous as those which have been raised to a 
iSi^apoleon or a Wellington. But what happens to this warrior? 
Why, these Americans, having made a iruce with him, invited 
liim to a conference. He comes under the protection of that 
truce. Thus confiding in their honor, is he allowed to return ? 
Oh no ! He is not allowed to return, but is taken prisoner, 
and carried captive to the fort. (Shame, shame!) Oh, cry 
out shame, and let that cry be heard across the waves of the 
mighty ocean ! (Cheers.) We are the teach'ers of humanity, 
we are the' friends of humanity. What does it signify to us, 
that the crime is not committed on British soil ! Wherever it 
is committed, we are its enemies. (Cheers.) The American 
it is true, boasts of having been the first to abolish the slave 
trade carried on in foreign vessels. Why, he Avas. But what 
was the consequence ? Every one of his own slaves at home 
was made of more value to him. It was as>vindling humanity. 
It was worse than our twenty millions scheme. It had the 
guise of humanity, but had really the spirit of avarice and 
oppression. (Cheers.) I, perhaps, ought to apologize for 
detaining you (No, no ! Go on !) ; but we are all children of the 
same Creator, heirs to the same promise, purchased by the 
blood of the same Redeemer, and what signifies of what caste, 
color or creed we may be ? (Cheers.) It is our duty to pro- 
claim that the cause of the negro is our cause, and that we will 
insist upon doing away, to the best of our human ability the 



15 

stain of slavery, not only from every portion of this mighty 
empire, but from the face of the whole earth. (Cheers.) If 
there be in the huts of Africa, or amidst the swamps of Texas, 
a human being panting for liberty, let it be proclaimed to him 
that he has friends and supporters among the great British 
nation. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at a Public Meeting of 
■ Anti-Slaver^/ Delegates in London, 1837. 

It is utterly impossible that any thing should exist more 
horrible than the American slave-breeding. The history of it 
is this : The Americans abolished tlie foreign slave trade earlier 
than England, but with this consolation — no small comfort to 
so money-loving a race as the slaveholders — that by such 
abolition, they enhanced the price of the slaves then in America, 
by stopping the competition in the home market of newly im- 
ported slaves. Why, otherwise, was not the home trade stopped 
as well as the foreign ? The reply is obvious. 
' To supply the home slave trade, an abominable, a most 
•hideous, most criminal, and most revolting practice of breed- 
ing negroes exclusively for sale, has sprung up, and especially, 
we are told, in Virginia. There are breeding plantations for 
producing negroes, as there are with us breeding farms for pro- 
ducing calves and lambs. And as our calf and lamb breeders 
calculate the number of males of the flock to the females, simi- 
lar calculations are made by the traffickers in human flesh. 
One instance was mentioned to me of a human breeding farm 
in America, which was supplied with two men and twelve 
women. Why should I pollute my page with a description of 
all that is immoral and infamous in such practice ? But only 
think of the wretched mothers, whom nature compels to love 
their children — children torn from thicm for ever, just at the 
period that they could requite their mother's love ! The 
wretched, wretched mother ! Who can depict the mother's 
distraction and madness? "But their maternal feelings are," 
says a modern writer, " treated with as much contemptuous 
indifi'erence, as those of the cows and ewes whose calves and 
lambs are sent to the English market." 

That it is which stains the character of the American slave- 
holder, and leaves the breeder of slaves the most detestable of 
human beings ; especially when that slaveholder is a republi- 
can, boasting of freedom, shouting for liberty, and declaring, 
as the charter of his liberal institutions, these are self-evident 
truths, " that all men are created equal — that they are endowed 
by their Creator with certain inalienable rights — that among 
these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

My sole object in my speech at Birmingham, and present 



16 

object, is to rouse the attention of England and of Europe to 
all that is cruel, criminal, and, in every sense of the Av<jrd, in- 
famous, in the system of negro slavery in North America. My 
deliberate conviction is, that until that system is abolished, no 
American slaveholder ought to be received on a footing of 
equality by any of the civilized inhabitants of Europe. — Let- 
ter of Mr. O'Connell to the Editor of the London 3Iorning 
Chroyncle, 1838. 

I have no superfluous tears to shed for Ireland, and shall 
show my love of my country by continuing my exertions to ob- 
tain for her justice and good government; but I feel that I 
have something Irish at my heart, which makes me sympathize 
with all those who are suffering under oppression, and forces 
me to give to universal man the benefit of the exertions which 
are the consequence. (Cheers.) And what adds peculiarly to 
the claim of Ireland for sympathy and support is, that in the 
great cause of suffering humanity, no voice was ever raised, but 
Ireland was found ready to afford relief and succor. — Speech % 
delivered at a 3Ieetlng of the British India Society, London, 
1839. 

He then came to North America, and there, thank God, he 
found much reason for congratulation. There were now pre- 
sent forty representatives of American Abolition Societies to 
aid them in the great struggle for human liberty. Let them 
be honored, in proportion as the slave-holders were execrated. 
Oh ! they had a hard battle to fight ! In place of being 
honored as they were in this land, they had to encounter cool- 
ness and outrage ; the bowie-knife and lynch law threatened 
them ; they were Abolitionists at the risk of their lives. 
(Cheers.) Glory to them ! A year or tAvo since, he made 
some observations upon the conduct of the American Minister ; 
he charged him with breeding slaves for sale ; he denied it ; 
and, in order to prove who was right, he sent him [Mr. O'Con- 
nell] a challenge to fight a duel. (Laughter.) He did not 
accept it. Nothing would ever induce him to commit murder. 
God had forbidden it, and he would obey him. (Cheers.) The 
American Minister denied the charge, but he admitted that he 
had slaves, and he admitted that he did afterwards sell some ; 
so let him have the benefit of sucli a denial. (A laugh.) He 
added, however, that he did not believe that slaves were bred 
for sale in Virginia. Now, he wou^d read some few extracts 
from Judge Jay's book, published in New York, in 1839. He 
would call Mr. Stevenson's attention to page 88 of that book, 
and that would prove to him, not only that slave-breeding ex- 
isted in Virginia, but within twenty-five miles of his own resi- 



/^-^ 



17 



dcnco [The Honorable Gentleman read several extrnct?, 
proving the practice ;' also several advertisements of lots of 
slaves wanted for ready money, for shipment to New Orleans, 
and dated in Richmond, the very place of Mr. Stevenson's re- 
sidence.] He had established against the Ambassador, that 
slave-raising did exist in Virginia. Yet all these things took 
place in a civilized country — a civilized age — advertisements 
of human flesh for sale, and written in even a more contemj)tu- 
ous manner than if the subjects of them were cattle. The 
trafiic in slaves from the North to the Southern States was im- 
mense. In the latter, they were put to the culture of sugar — 
a horrible culture, that swept oflF the whole in seven years — 
every seven years there was a new generation wanted. This 
was in a community calling themselves civilized. Why, they 
were worse than the savage beasts of the desert, for they only 
mangled when driven to it by hunger ; but this horrible prac- 
tice is carried on by well-fed Americans for paltry pecuniary 
profit — for that low 'and base consideration, they destroy an- 
nually their tens and twenty thousands. 

These scenes took place in a country, which, in all other 
respects, had a fair claim to be called civilized — in a country 
which had nobly worked out its own freedom — in a country 
where the men were brave and the women beautiful. Amongst 
the descendants of Englishmen — even amongst such was to be 
found a horrible population, whose thirst for gold could only 
be gratified at the expense of such scenes of human suff'ering ; 
a population who were insensible to the wrath of God, who 
were insensible to the cries and screams of mothers and chil- 
dren, torn from each other for ever. But there was one thing 
they would not be insensible to — they dare not, they would 
not be insensible to the contempt of Europe. (Loud cheers.) 
While they embraced the American Abolitionists as friends and 
brothers, let none of the slave-owners, dealers in human flesh, 
dare to set a foot upon our free soil. (Cheering.) Let them 
call upon the Government to protest to America, that they 
would not receive any slaveholding ambassador. (Loud cheer- 
ing.) Let them declare that no slave-owner can be admitted 
into European society ; and then Calhoun and Clay, and men 
like them, who stand up putting forth their claims to be Pre- 
sident of the great Republic, must yield to the pu1)lic, univer- 
sal opinion. He had made mention of those two men — he 
would only say that Calhoun was branded with the blood issu- 
ing from the stripes of the slave, and Clay drowned in the 
tears of the mothers and the children. (Cheers.) Let the 
people of Europe say to slave-owners, " Murderers, you belong 
2 



IS 

not to us ! Away to the desert, and herd Tvitli kindred sav- 
ages!" (Cheers.) He begged pardon of the savage. (Laugh- 
ter.) Sometimes in anger he committed heinous crimes, but 
he "was incapable of coolly calculating how long or how hard 
he could work a human being with a profit, — sometimes grant- 
ing him a boon for the purpose of obtaining a year or two more 
of labor out of him. Well, are we to remain passive as hither- 
to? (Loud cries of "No, no !") Let our declaration also go 
abroad. Let this Society adopt it — let the benevolence and 
good sense of Englishmen make that declaration. If an 
American addresses you, find out at once if he be a slave- 
holder. (Hear, hear.) He may have business with you, and 
the less you do with him, the better (a laugh) ; but the moment 
that is over, turn from him as if he had the cholera or the 
plague (cheers) — for there is a moral cholera and a political 
plague upon him. (Cheers.) He belongs not to your country 
or your clime — he is not within the pale of civilization or Chris- 
tianity. (Cheers.) ]jet us rally for the" liberty of the human 
race (applause) — no matter in what country or in what clime 
he is found, the slave is entitled to our protection; no matter 
of what caste, of what creed, of what color, he is your fellow- 
man — he is sufi'ering injustice ; and British generosity, which 
has done so much already, ought to be cheered to the task by 
the recollection of the success it has already attained. (Cheers.) 
* * * I am zealous in the cause, to be sure, but inefficient — 
acknowledging the humility of the individual, I am still swelled 
by the greatness of the cause. My bosom expfinds, and I glory 
in the domestic struggle for freedom which gave me a title to 
stand among you, and to use that title in the best way I can, 
to proclaim humanity to man, and the abolition of slavery all 
over the world. — Speech delivered at the Anniversary of the 
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840. 

From this spot, I wish to rouse all the high and lofty pride 
of the American mind. Republicanism necessarily gives a 
higher and prouder tone to the human mind than any other 
form of government. I am not comparing it with any thing 
else at present ; but all history shows there is a pride about 
republicanism, which perhaps, is a consolation to the republi- 
can for any privations he may suffer, and a compensation for 
many things in which he may possibly be inferior ; but from 
this spot, I repeat, I wish to rouse all the honesty and pride 
of American youth and manhood ; and would that the voice 
of civilized Europe would aid me in the appeal, and swell my 
feeble voice to one shout of honest indignation : and when these 
Americans point to their boasted Declaration of Independence, 



/^i 



19 



exclaim, "Look at your pvactico I" Can there he faitli in 
man, or reliance placed in human beings, who thus contrast 
their action with their declarations ? * * * That was the first 
phrase of their boasted Declaration of Independence. "What 
was the last? — " To these principles we solemnly pledge our 
lives," (invoking the name of the great God, and calling for 
his aid,) " we solemnly pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our 
sacred honor." It has the solemnity without the profanencss 
of an oath ; it speaks in the presence of the living God ; it 
pledges life, fortune, and sacred honor to the principles they 
assert. How can they lay claim to "sacred honor," with this 
dark, emphatic, and diabolical violation of their principles 
staring them in the face ? No ! America must know that all 
Europe is looking at her, and that her Senate, in declaring 
that there is property in human beings, has violated her oath 
to God, and " sacred honor" to men. Will the American come 
down upon me, then, with his republicanism ? I will meet him 
with the taunt, that he has mingled perjury with personal dis- 
grace and dishonor, and inflicted both with a double barb into 
the character of any man who claims property in any human 
being. France, and even England, might possibly adopt buch 
a resolution without violating their national honor, because iLey 
have made no such declarations as America, and therefore biie 
is doubly dyed in disgrace by the course she has taken, in upon 
opposition to her own charter of Independence. * * * J icjuico 
to hear the present agitation is striking terror into the hearts 
of the slave-mongers, whose selfish interests, vile passions, and 
predominant pride, with all that is bad and unworthy coai- 
mingled, make them Avilling to retain their hold of human pro- 
perty, and to work with the bones and blood of their fellow- 
creatures ; whilst a species of democratic aristocracy, the 
filthiest aristocracy that ever entered into civilized society, is 
set up in the several States — an aristocracy that wishes to have 
property without the trouble and toil of earning it, and to set 
themselves above men, only to plunder them of their natural 
rights, and to live solely upon their labor. Thus, the gratifica- 
tion of every bad passion, and every base emotion of the human 
mind is enlisted in defence of the slaveholder's right. "When 
we turn our eyes upon America, we see in her Declaration of 
Independence the display of the democratic element of popu- 
lar feeling against every thing like tyranny or oppression. 
But when I come to the District of Columbia, there I see in 
the capital and temple of freedom, the negro chained to his 
toil, and writhing beneath the lash of his taskmaster, and the 
negress doomed to all the horrors of slavery. There I see 



20 

their infant, yet unable to understand vrliat it is that tortures 
its father or distracts its mother ; "while that mother is cursing 
its existence, because it is not a man, but a slave ; and almost 
wishing — ah ! -vN-hat a "wringing thought to a mother's heart — 
that the child might sink into an early grave, rather than be- 
come the property of an excruciating tyrant, and the instru- 
ment of "wealth to others, "without being able to procure com- 
fort and happiness for itself. That is America ; that is the 
land of the free ; these are the illustrations of the glorious 
principles laid down in the Declaration of American Indepen- 
dence ! These evils, inflicted as they are by the democratic 
aristocracy of the States, are "worse than ever "were inflicted 
by the most kingly aristocracy, or the most despotic tyranny. 
I do not mean any thing off"ensive to our American friends 
present, but I do say, there is written in letters of blood upon 
the American escutcheon, robbery and murder, and plunder 
of human beings. I recognize no American as a fcllo"w-man, 
except those "who belong to anti-slavery societies. Those "who 
uphold slavery are not men as "we are, they are not honest as 
"we are ; and I look upon a slaveholder as upon a pickpocket, 
"who violates the common laws of property and honesty. 

They say that by their Constitution, they are prevented 
from emancipating the slaves in the slaveholding States ; but 
I look in the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitu- 
tion of "1787, and I defy them to find a single word about 
slavery, or any provision for holding property in man. 

No man can deny the personal courage of the American peo- 
ple. With the recollections of the battles of Bunker's Hill and 
Saratoga, — of which, indeed, I might be reminded by the 
portrait which hangs opposite to me, of one of the oflScers who 
took an active part in those conflicts, (Earl of Moira,) — 
with the recollection, I say, of those battles it would be dis- 
graceful and dishonest to deny to the American people per- 
sonal courage and bravery. There exists not a braver people 
upon the face of the earth. But, amongst all those who com- 
posed the Convention of 1787, there was not one man who 
had the moral courage — I was about to say the immoral 
courage — to insert the word slavery in the Constitution. 
No ! they did not dare pronounce the word ; and if they did 
not dare to use the word slavery, are they to be allowed to 
adopt the thing ? Is America to shake her star-spangled 
banner in the breeze, and boast of liberty, while she is con- 
scious that that banner floats over the heads of slaves ? Oh, 
but they call it "persons held to labor" — that is the phrase 
they use in their Constitution ; but dare any one say that sla- 



/fC 



very is implied in those words ? The term applies to any 
person who enters into a contract to labor, for a given period, 
as by the month or year, or for an equivalent ; but his doing 
so does not constitute him a slave, surely ; the very term is 
disgraceful to nature, and an affront to nature's God. No 
wonder the word was not in their declaration ; you would not 
look to find words of injustice and cruelty in a declaration of 
honesty and humanity. I repeat it, they have not used the 
word. They meant slavery : they intended to have slaves, 
but they dared not employ the word ; and " persons held to 
labor" was as near as they dared approach to it. Can you con- 
ceive of a deeper crime than slavery ? A crime which includes 
in it injustice and cruelty, which multiplies robberies and 
murders ! Ay, there is one thing worse even than tins, and 
that is hypocrisy added to it. Let hypocrisy be superinduced 
on injustice, and you have, indeed, a character fit to mingle 
with the murky powers of darkness ; and the Americans (I 
speak not of them all, there are many noble exceptions) have 
added hypocrisy to their other accomplishments. They say 
they have no power to emancipate their slaves : is that the 
real reason ? It may be, that they have not power to do so 
in some particular States ; but then, what shall be said of the 
District of Columbia ? There they are not bound by any re- 
striction ; yet in that District there are slaves, and there they 
furnish further proof of their hypocrisy. Oh, say they, we 
are the finest gentlemen, the wisest statesmen, and most pro- 
found legislators in the world. We are ardent lovers of liberty, 
we detest slavery, and we lament that we have not the power 
to make all free. Then I whisper, Columbia ! Columbia ! 
You have the power there, you have the authority there, to 
remove this foul blot ; you have the means and opportunities ; 
you have, in short, every thing but the will : the will alone is 
wanting ; and, with all your professions, you are hj^pocrites. 

But I will now turn to a subject of congratulation : I mean 
the Anti-Slavery Societies of America — those noble-hearted 
men and women, who, through difficulties and dangers, have 
proved how hearty they are in the caui^e of abolition. I hail 
them all as my friends, and wish them to regard me as a 
brother. I wish for no higher station in the world ; but I do 
covet the honor of being a brother with these American Abo- 
litionists. In this country, the Abolitionists are in perfect 
safety; here we have fame and honor; we are lauded and en- 
couraged by the good ; we are smiled upon and cheered by the 
fair ; we are bound together by godlike truth and charity ; and 
though we have our difl'erences as to points of faith, we have 



22 

no cliflfcrcnce as to this point, and we pi'oceed in our useful 
career esteemed and honored. But it is not so with our anti- 
slavery friends in America : there they are vilified, there they 
are insulted. Why, did not very lately a hody of men — of 
gentlemen, so called — of persons who would be angry if you 
denied them that cognomen, and would even be ready to call 
you out to share a rifle and a ball — did not such "gentlemen" 
break in upon an Anti-Slavery Society in America; aye, upon 
a ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, and assault them in a most 
cowardly manner ? And did they not denounce the members 
of that Society ? And where did this happen ? Why, in Boston 
— in enlightened Boston, the capital of a non-slaveholding 
State. In this country, the Abolitionists have nothing to com- 
plain of; but in America, they are met with the bowie-knife 
and lynch law ! Yes ! in America, you have had martyrs ; 
your cause has been stained with blood ; the voice of your 
brethren's blood crieth from the ground, and riseth high, not, 
I trust, for vengeance, but for mercy, upon those who have thus 
treated them. But you ought not to be discouraged, or relax 
in your efforts. Here you have honor. A human being can- 
not be placed in a more glorious position than to take up such 
a cause under such circumst;inces. I am delighted to be one 
of a Convention in which are so many of such great and good 
men. I trust that their reception will be such as that their 
zeal may be greatly strengthened to continue their noble 
struggle. I have reason to hope that, in this assembly, a voice 
will be raised which will roll back in thunder to America, 
which will mingle with her mighty waves, and which wnll cause 
one universal shout of liberty to be heard throughout the world. 
Oh, there is not a delegate from the Anti-Slavery Societies of 
America, but ought to have his name, aye, her name, written 
in characters of immortality! The Anti-Slavery Societies in 
America are deeply persecuted, and are deserving of every en- 
couragement which we can possibly give them. I would that 
I had the eloquence to depict their character aright ; but my 
tongue falters, and my powers fail, while I attempt to describe 
them. They are the true friends of humanity, and would that 
I had a tongue to describe aright the mighty majesty of their 
undertaking ! I love and honor America and the Americans. 
I respect their great principles ; their untiring industry ; their 
lofty genius ; their social institutions ; their morals, such morals 
as can exist with slavery — God knows they cannot be many — 
but I respect all in them or about them that is good. But, at 
the same time, I denounce and anathematize them as slave- 
holders, and hold them up to the scorn of all civilized Europe. 



/f? 



I would that the govcrnracnt of this country would tell the 
United States of America, that they must send no more slave- 
holdinii; neo;otiators here ! 

I will tell you a little anecdote. Last year, I was accosted 
with great civility, by a well-dressed, gentleman-like person, 
in the lobby of the House of Commons. He stated that he 
w^as from America, and was anxious to be admitted to the 
House. "From what State do you come?" "From Ala- 
bama." "A slaveholder, perhaps?" "Yes." " Then," said 
I, "I beg to be excused ;" and so I bowed and left him. Now, 
that is an example which I wish to be followed. Have no in- 
tercourse with a slaveholder. "You may, perhaps, deal with 
him as a man of business, but, even then, you must act with 
caution, as you would with a pickpocket and a robber. You 
ought to be very scant of courtesy toward him, at least until 
he has cleared himself of the foul imputation. Let us beware 
of too much familiarity with such men ; and let us plainly and 
honestly tell them, as a Convention, what we think of them. 
I am not for the employment of force ; no — let all be done by 
the statement of indisputable facts ; by the diffusion of infor- 
mation ; by the union of benevolent minds ; by our bold de- 
termination to expose tyranny and cruelty ; by proclaiming to 
the slaveholders that, so long as they have any connection with 
the accursed traffic in human beings, we hold them to be a 
different race. Why should it not be so ? Why should we not 
shrink from them, as we would with shuddering from the ap- 
proach of the vilest reptiles ? The declaration of such views 
and feelings from such a body of men as are now before me, 
will make the slaveholders tremble. My voice js feeble, but I 
have no doubt but what I say will reach them, and that it will 
have some influence upon them. They must feel that they can- 
not much longer hold the sway. One of the great objects of 
my hope is to affright the Americans by laying hold upon their 
pride, their vanity, their self-esteem,, by commending what is 
excellent in them, and by showing how very far they come 
short in those proprieties upon which they boast themselves. I 
would have this Convention avail themselves of all such aids, 
and to urge them by every possible argument to abandon the 
horrid vice by which their character is so foully disfigured. 
* * * We have proof this day that there are those who love 
the cause of freedom in every part of the globe. And why 
should it not be so? Why should not all unite in such a 
glorious cause ? We are all formed by the same Creator ; we 
are alike the objects of the same watchful Providence ; Ave are 
all the purchase of the same redeeming blood ; we have one 



21 

common Siivicur ; isnd our hearts beat high v^'iih. the same im- 
mortal hopes. And why should any portion of the human 
race be shut out from our affection and regard ? * * * 0, let 
our word go forth from this place, that we do not deem the 
Americans Christians, by whatever name they are called, 
whether Episcopalians, or Baptists, or Independents, or Metho- 
dists, or whatever other name, — that we regard them not as 
Christians at all, unless they cordially unite with us in this 
great work. "We honor all that is really good in America, and 
would have it all on our side in this glorious struggle — in this 
holy cause. Let us unite and persevere, and, by the blessing 
of God, and the aid of good men, freedom will, ere long, wave 
her triumphant banner over emancipated America, and we 
shall unite with the Avhole world to rejoice in the result. — 
Speech at the World's Anti-Slavery Convention, held in Free- 
mason s Hall, London, June, 184(3. 

At a Special meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Associi- 
tion, held in the Great Room, Corn Exchange, Dublin, May, 
9, 1843, — James Haughton, Esq., in the chair, — 

Mr. O'Connell said : — The Association had adjourned to 
that day for the purpose of receiving a communication with 
which they had been honored from the Anti-Slavery Society 
of America — a body of men whom they most entirely respect 
— whose objects should be cherished in their hearts' core — 
whose dangers enhanced their virtues — and whose persevering 
patriotism would either write their names on the pages of tem- 
poral history, or impress them in a higher place, where eternal 
glory and happiness would be the reward of their exertions. 
(Cheers.) His impressions were so strong in favor of the Anti- 
Slavery Society of America, that he thought it would not be 
so respectful as he would desire, if he brought forward that 
document in the routine of business on the last day, when it 
could not be so much attended to as it deserved. (Hear, hear.) 
It was out of respect to the people who sent that document, that 
they had adjourned ; and he might say, that personal respect 
for I he Chairman was mixed up with that consideration. (Cheers.) 
They could not have sent a better message, or a more sincere 
one ; and, if he now had the kindness to make the communi- 
cation, they would receive it with the respect it deserved. 
(Cheers.) 

The Anti-Slavery Address having been read, — 

Mr. O'Connell then said : — I rise with the greatest alacrity 
to move that that most interesting document be inserted on the 
minutes, and that the fervent thanks of the Repeal Association 
of Ireland be by acclamation voted to the writers of it. I 



/<^<^ 



V 



25 

never in my life heard anytliing read that imposed more upon 
my feelings, and excited a deeper sympathy and sorrow within 
me. I never, in fact, before knew the horrors of slavery in 
their genuine colors. It is a production framed in the purest 
eaV.it of simplicity, but, at the s;.nie lime, powerl'ul in its sen- 
timents, so at once to reach the human heart, and stir up the 
human feelings to sorrow and execration — sorrow for the vic- 
tims, and execration for the tyrants. (Loud cries of hear, 
hear, and cheers.) It will have its eifect throughout Ireland ; 
for the Irish people' did not know what was, alas ! familiar to 
you. Sir, and to me, — the real state of slavery in America, and 
of the unequaled evils it inflicts ; for slavery, wherever it ex- 
ists, is the bitterest jjotion that can be commended to the lips 
of man. Let it be presented in any shape, and it must dis- 
gust, for a curse inherent to it grows with it, and inflicts op- 
pression and cruelty wherever it descends. (Hear, hear, and 
cheers.) We proclaim it an evil ; and though, as a member of 
this Association, I am not bound to take up any national 
quarrel, still, I do not hesitate to declare my opinions; I never 
pjaltered in my own sentiments. (Cheers.) I never said a 
word in mitigation of slavery in my life ; and I would consider 
myself the most criminal of human beings if I had done so. 
(Hear, and cheers.) 

Yes, I will say, shame upon every man in America, who is 
not an anti-slavery man ; shame and disgrace upon him ! I 
don't care for the consequences. I will not restrain my hon- 
est indignatfon of feeling. I pronounce every man a faithless 
miscreant, who does not take a part for the abolition of slav- 
ery. (Tremendous cheering for several minutes.) It may be 
said that ofi'ence will be taken at these words. Come what 
may from them, they are my words. (Renewed applause.) 
The question never came regularly before us until now. We 
had it introduced collaterally ; we had it mentioned by per- 
sons who were friends of ours, and who were endeavoring to 
maintain good relations between us and the slaveholders, but 
it is only now that it comes directly before us. We might 
have shrunk from the question by referring the document to a 
committee ; but, I would consider such a course unworthy of 
me, enjoying as I do the confidence of the virtuous, the re- 
ligious, and the humane people of Ireland ; for I would be un- 
fit to be what I desire to consider myself, the representative 
of the virtues of the people, if I were not ready to make every 
sacrifice for them, rather than to give the least sanction to 
human slavery. 

They say that the slaves are worse treated since the cry of the 



26 

Abolitionists lias been raised in their favor, as it has made 
theii* masters more suspicious of them, andpiore severe against 
them ; but has that any vreight vrith me ? How often was I 
told, during our agitation,that " the Catholics would be emanci- 
pated but for the violence of that O'Connell!" (Laughter.) 
Why, one of the cleverest men in the country wrote a pamphlet 
in 1827, in which he stated that the Protestants of Ireland 
would have emancipated their Catholic countrymen long be-, 
fore, but for me, and fellows of my kind ; and yet, two years 
after, I got emancipation in spite of them. (Cheers.) But it 
is clearly an insult to the understanding to speak so. When 
did tyranny relax its gripe merely because it ought to do so ? 
(Hear.) As long as their was no agitation, the masters en- 
joyed the persecution of their slaves in quietness ; but the mo- 
ment the agitation commenced, they cried out, " Oh, it is not 
the slaves we are flogging, but we are flogging through his 
back the anti-slavery men." (Laughter.) But the subject is 
too serious for ridicule. I am afraid they will never give up 
slavery until some horrible calamity befalls their country; and 
I here warn them against the event, for it is utterly impossible 
that slavery can continue much longer. (Hear, hear.) But, 
good Heaven ! can Irishmen be found to justify, or rather to 
palliate, (for no one could dare attempt to justify,) a system 
which shuts out the book of human knowledge, and seeks to 
reduce to the condition of a slave, 2,500,000 human beings : 
which closes against them not only the light of human science, 
but the rays of divine revelation, and the doctrines which the 
Son of God came upon the earth to plant ! The man who will 
do so belongs not to my kind. (Hear, hear.) Over the broad 
Atlantic I pour forth my voice, saying, " Come out of such a 
land, you Irishmen ; or, if you remain, and dare countenance 
the system of slavery that is supported there, we will recog- 
nize you as Irishmen no longer." (Hear, hear, and cheers.) 
I say the man is not a Christian, — he cannot believe in the 
binding law of the Decalogue. He may go to the chapel or 
the church, and he may turn up the whites of his eyes, but he 
cannot kneel as a Christian before his Creator, or he would 
not dare to palliate such an infamous system. No, America ! 
the black spot of slavery rests upon your star-spangled banner ; 
and no matter what glory you may acquire beneath it, the 
hideous, damning stain of slavery rests upon you, and a just 
Providence will sooner or later avenge itself for your crime. 
(Loud and continued cheers.) Sir, I have spoken the senti- 
ments of the Repeal Association. (Renewed cheers.) There 
is not a man amonirst the hundreds of thousands that belonii; 



/fv 



27 



to our body, or amongst the millions that will belong to it, who 
does not concur in what I have stated. We may not get money 
from America after this declaration; but even if we should 
not, we do not want blood-stained money. (Hear, hear.) If 
they make it the condition of our sympathy, or if there be im- 
plied any submission to the doctrine of slavery on our part, in 
receiving their remittance, let them cease sending it at once. 
But there are wise and good men every where, and there are 
wise and good men in America — and that document which you 
have read. Sir, is a proof, among others, that there are ; and 
I would wish to cultivate the friendship of such men; but the 
criminals and the abettors — those who commit, and those who 
countenance the crime of slavery — I regard as the enemies of 
Ireland, and I desire to have no sympathy or support from 
them. (Cheers.) 

I have the honor to move that this document be inserted in 
full upon our minutes, and that the most grateful thanks of 
the •Repeal Association be given to the Anti-Slavery Society 
of America, who sent it to us, and in particular, to the two 
office bearers, whose names are signed to it. 

At a meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Association, in 
Dublin, August 8,1843, Mr. O'Connell, in the course of a 
powerful Anti-Slavery speech, said : — 

A disposition was evinced in America to conciliate the 
opinion of that Association in favor of the horrid system of 
slavery, but they refused, of course, to show any sanction to it. 
(Hear, and cheers.) 

He had taken an active part m the Anti-Slavery Society 
from the moment that he was competent to discover any one 
body of men acting for the extinction of slavery all over the 
world ; and he stood in that Association as the representative 
of the Irish people, who had themselves suffered centuries of 
persecution, because they were attached to humanity, and to 
what justice and reason demanded ; for if they had chosen to 
be silent, and had bowed to authority — if they had acquiesced 
in the dictation of their'masters and tyrants, they would have 
escaped many temporary sufferings, but they would not have 
acquired the glory of having adhered with religious fidelity to 
their principles. Standing as their representative, he could 
not act otherwise than he had done, though the liberty of Ire- 
land, the repeal of the Union itself, were to abide the result. 
He was bound not to look to consequences, but to justice and 
humanity ; and come Avhat would, he did not hesitate to throw 
heart and soul into his opposition to the system that would 
treat human beings as brute beasts of the field. He spoke 



28 

distinctly and emphatically, for as he wanted to make an im- 
pression, he used harder words than he would have done, if he 
did not know that harsh words were necessary to rouse the 
selfish temperament of the domineering master of slaves. And 
he did make that sensation, and he was glad of it. 

At a meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Association, held 
in Conciliation Hall, Dublin, Sept. 29th, 1845, Mr. O'Connell, 
speaking on the subject of American slavery, said: 

I have been assailed for attacking the American institution, 
as it is called, negro slavery. I am not ashamed of that attack- — 
I do not shrink from it. I am the advocate of civil and reli- 
gious liberty all over the globe, and wherever tyranny exists, I 
am the foe of the tyrant; wherever oppression shows itself, I 
am the foe of the oppressor; wherever slavery rears its head, 
I am the enemy of the system, or the institution, call it by 
what name you will. (Great cheering.) I am the friend of 
liberty in every clime, class, and color: — my sympathy with 
distress is not confined within the narrow bounds of my own 
green island — no, it extends itself to every corner of the earth 
— my heart walks abroad, and wherever the miserable is to be 
succored, and the slave is to be set free, there my spirit is at 
home, and I delight to dwell in its abode. (Enthusiastic cheer- 
ing.) It has been asked. What business has O'Connell to in- 
terfere with American slavery? Why, do not the Americans 
shov us their sympathy for our struggles, and why should we 
not show a sympathy in eff'orts for liberty amongst themselves? 
(Cheers.) But I confess I have another strong reason for de- 
siring to abolish slavery in America. In no monarchy on the 
face of the earth is there such a thing as domestic slavery. It 
is true, in some colonies belonging to monarchies, slaver}^ exists ; 
but in no European country is there slavery at all, for the Rus- 
sian serf is far diff'erent from the slave of America, and there- 
fore I do not wish that any lover of liberty should be able to 
draw a contrast between the democratic republic of America 
and the despotic States of Europe. (Hear, hear.) I am in 
favor of the democratic spirit, and I wish to relieve it from the 
horrors of slavery. (Cheers.) I do not wish to visit America 
with force and violence — I would be the last man in the world 
to consent to it. I would not be for making war to free the 
negro; at least not for the war of knife, and lash, and sword; 
but I would be for the moral warfare — I would be for the arms 
of argument and humanity to procure the extinction of tyranny, 
and to hurl contempt and indignation on those who call them- 
selves freemen, and yet keep others in slavery. I would bring 
elements of that kind to bear upon the system, until the very 



29 

name of slavery should be regarded ^vith horror in the republic 
of America. (Cheers.) * * . * * 

In the year '25, when I left my profession and went over to 
England, there was an auti-slavery meeting, at which I Avas 
present and spoke; and afterward, when I went to Parliament, 
another meeting was appointed, greater in magnitude. The 
West India interest was -7 strong in the House of Commons — 
the Algerine bill was carried through the House by a majority 
of 19 — therefore, the emancipation bill was in the power of the 
West India interest; but when they sent a respected friend of 
mine (the Knight of Kerry) to me, to ask why I did not take 
a certain course with regard to it, what was my answer? "I 
represent the Irish people here, and I will act as the Irish 
people will sanction. Come liberty, come slavery to myself, I 
■will never countenance slavery, at home or abroad !" (Cheers.) 
I said I came here on principle ; the Irish people sent me here 
to carry out their principles; their principles are abhorrent of 
slavery ; and, therefore, I will take my part at that anti-slavery 
meeting; and though it should be a blgAS against Ireland, it is 
a blow in favor of human liberty, and I will strike that blow. 
(Cheers.) So far was I from cultivating the slavery interest, 
that I adopted that course, though I regretted to lose their 
votes. But I must do them the credit to say, that I did not 
lose them. They acted nobly, and said they would not revenge 
upon Ireland my attack upon them. (Cheers.) * * Let 
them blame me — in America let me be execrated by them — let 
their support be taken from Ireland — Slavery, I denounce you 
wherever you are ! (Loud cheers.) Come freedom, come op- 
pression to Ireland — let Ireland be as she may — I will have my 
conscience clear before my God. (Continued cheers.) * * * 

They were told that the speech he made in that room would 
put an end to the remittances from America; and that the Ame- 
ricans would not again contribute to the funds of the Associa- 
tion. If they should never get one shilling from America, his 
course was plain, his path was obvious. He was attached to 
liberty ; he was the uncompromising hater of slavery wherever 
it was to be found. (Cheers.) 

Have I traduced the Americans, when I talked of the horrors 
of domestic slavery ? I happened to receive a New Orleans 
paper, published in the centre of domestic slavery — it is called 
the Jeffersonian liejnibtic, and I shall read an extract from it. 
By that I perceive that, in connection with the institution of 
slavery in New Orleans — for I find that, in America, they call 
it an institution — there are public whipping places; men are 
licensed to keep shambles of torture (hear, hear) ; the master 



30 

sends his slave to those shambles, there to get one hundred 
lashes, and the man gets the hundred lashes, or whatever de- 
gree of punishment his master desires. (Hear, hear.) There 
are actually shambles kept there for the torture of slaves, and 
there are persons who earn a livelihood — what a hideous live- 
lihood! — by flogging human beings at the instance of those 
who are called their masters. (Hear, hear.) Am I to blame 
if I attack a system of that kind? (Hear, hear.) Male or 
female, young or old, whipped at the discretion of a man whose 
only limit is not actually killing the individual! (Hear, hear.) 
They would thus make the slave declare whether he is guilty 
of a theft or not. Are they, I ask, Christian men who endure 
to see these scenes going on around them? (Hear, hear.) Re- 
collect that this is not the statement of a calumniator, or a 
libeler, or foreign emissary, but it is the statement published 
in the darkest hole of slavery, New Orleans itself. (Hear, 
hear.) — Speech before the Dublin Rejjeal Association, Septem- 
ber, 1844. 



ADDRESS 

FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE CUFFE-LANE TEMPERANCE 
SOCIETY TO THEIR BRETHREN IN AMERICA. 

DuBLix, February, 1847. 

To Irishmen in America ; 

Countrymen: From recent information that we have re- 
ceived on the subject of slavery, as it exists in the country of 
your adoption, our fiearts have been warmed afresh with zeal 
on behalf of freedom, and our sympathies re-kindled in favor 
of the American slave, who is deprived of all his rights, and 
subjected to the irresponsible will of his master. 

Countrymen ! our hearts burn Avith indignation at the 
thoughts of this injustice to our felloAV-creatures, who are 
children of the same God as we are, and destined to a similar 
glorious end. 

We have heard, fellow-countrymen, with feelings of deep 
sorrow, that many of you are indift\'rent to the wrongs of the 
slave, and that some are to be found even in the raid<s of those 
who chain, and whip, and lacerate him; and who, without pity 
or remorse, forcibly separate husbands and wives, parents and 



.^^/ 



31 

children, selling tlicm at the auction-table to the highest 
bidder ! 

By all your memories of Irishmen, by all your love of Fa- 
therland, -we entreat you not to disgrace the land of your birth, 
by aiding the tyrant in the land of your adoption to rivet the 
chains on his victim ! 

What right have you to enslave the colored man? Did not 
God create him in His own image as well as 3^ou? If you are 
authorized to keep him in bondage, show us your license from 
the Lord of earth and heaven ! 

God has placed an instinct within your bosoms, which tells 
you that "man is created free and equal, and that all are alike 
entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

Countrymen! Ave appeal to you in the name of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, which guarantees to every inhabitant of 
the United States of America the priceless boon of liberty, but 
which instrument has been basely trampled under foot, in rela- 
tion to three millions of the people of that republic. 

On the fourth day of July, every year, you and every citizen 
of America celebrate your freedom from political servitude. 
Perform this act of hypocrisy no more, until the colored man 
can unite in the joyful hymn of thanksgiving. 

In a word, countrymen, we call upon you to be true to the 
principles of Liberty and Justice. Pursue a contrary course, 
and you will disgrace your country, and impede her advance- 
ment on the road of freedom. 

"We need your sympathy, as you need ours, for the promotion 
of the principles of Truth and Justice at home and abroad; and 
neither of us can help the other, if we are false to God's light 
in our own hearts. 

We remain, countrymen and friends, faithfully yours, 

John Spratt, D. D., President of the Society, 

Chapel House, Angier St., Dublin. 

James Haughton — and 881 others. 



TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OE O'CONNELL. 

[From the Annual Report of the Massachusetts A. S. Society, 1S47.] 

The last year has been marked in the annals of Ireland, 
and of the world, by the death of the great O'Conncll. This 
is no place to recount his history or to pronounce his eulogy. 



32 

It is for others to tell his labors in behalf of the great move- 
ments for the Relief of his Religion, for the Reform of Par- 
liament, and for the Repeal of the Union. But to his ear- 
nestness in the canse of West Indian Emancipation, his 
readiness to denounce the Colonization imposture when ex- 
posed to him by Mr. Garrison, his indignant contempt of 
slaveholders and their apologists, and his consistent hatred of 
Slavery and readiness to co-operate with the Abolitionists, we 
may be permitted to pay the tribute of our admiration and 
gratitude. He died at Genoa, on the 15th of May, 1847, in 
the 72d year of his age, while upon a pilgrimage to the me- 
tropolis of his ancient Faith, of which he was ever a zealous 
votary and a duteous son. But his frame was too much shat- 
tered by his toils and sufferings to permit him to reach the 
Head of his Church. Few men have left behind them a more 
famous name, or one that excites more opposite emotions in 
the hearers' minds. No one of his times was better hated 
and better loved than he. No man's character was submitted 
to such opposite constructions. But when the evil and the 
good that he has left behind him shall be pondered in the im- 
partial balance of posterity, we believe that his services in 
the cause of civil and religious liberty, his recognition of 
moral power and the renunciation of violence and bloodshed 
of his later years, will be found to outweigh his errors, and 
that he will be recognized as among the foremost of the friends 
of mankind. 



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